Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-12-15


Coroner Meredith on receiving in
formation Of the accident at once pro
ceeded to the scene of the disaster
where he held an official investiga
ton as to the cause of the calamity
and on his return to town at d p.
was seen by a HERALD reporter, II
whose hands he placed the following
docume, is:
The jury decided that the deceased
Clementina S. Arnold, a female, mar
ried. a native of Pennsylvania, aget
about As years, came to her death 81
the 14th of Decembe from inJurie
received by the falling upon her OF ;
building known as the Crescent;
Hotel building, at Crescenta, durin,
an unusual wind storm, and the lur,
believe the said building to have beer
unsufficiently braced and supported
in it's foundation.
A similar statement was made re
garding the other victim. the persona
description being Claudia Arnold, 8
female, born in Minnesota, aged lC
years.
THE TESTIMONY.
The following is the testimony
sworn to before the coroner and jury :
A. J. Holly testified: II reside in
Crescenta, and am storekeeper by
occupation. Last night, between the
hours of IL and ] O'Clock, WAS in a
house opposite where the hotel stood.
[ heard crash, and aid not know
what it was at the time. looked out
OF the window and could not see the
hotel. took my lantern and found the
hotel blown down in a heap, | heard
persons who We're imprisoned under
the debris calling for help. | assisted
to get them out. Most OF the persons
we're unhurt, with the exception Of a
lew bruises. Did not see the deceased
taken from the building. l was awake
at the time the building fell, was
up on account Of the unusually strong
l consider the building
IN unsafe building for storms and
wind such as we had last night"
John Wiley testified: 81 reside in
l am real estate dealer
by occupation. l am also proprietor
d the Crescenta Hotel. and S. 3.
Sanborn are the owners OF the build
ing that is down. l never examined
he building until after we had had a
very heavy wind-storm last Saturday
night. then thought that the build
ing was not braced sufficiently. l in
tended to get some timber to brace the
building up, / spoke to o carpenter
for his opinion in regard to it. lt.was
my intention to have it braced up as
soon as I could. :. | do not know any
thing in relation to the accident.
When ] examined the building my
intention was to prop and brace it SO
that ii there should be an unusual
wind it would be perfectly safe. /
did not think at the time that the
building was in dan gerOuS condition.
The building was built by contract.
' John b. Cryer testified: 81 reside
in Creseenta; am a brickIayer and
plasterer. Last night between the
hours OF II and o'clock L was in the
school house. | went there because
the wind was blowing unusually hard.
and | was afraid that my house
was not safe. l was sleeping
near a window in the school house.
[ looked out of the window and could
not see the hotel, l got up and dressed
and went to work. l helped Mrs.
Willey's little girl out of the wreck
and several other persons. l then
hunted for the other persons that
were still missing an after cutting
down into the wreck | found the
bodies Of. the deceased. They were
crushed to death by the building
falling on them"
U. +. Shafter, testified: 81 am a
hack driver by occupation. L have
known the deceased about week.
About fifteen minutes after II O'Clock
last night | was in bed asleep. | woke
up. The people in the house were up
and walking around. The wind out
side was blowing almost agale. The
building shook slightly just before the
crash came. was in bed. was
covered by pieces of the broken house.
| could not get out. / called for
help. We heard the persons on
top of the debris cutting
down to us. was assisted out. l was
hurt and taken down to the school
house. Never heard of the building
being unsafe until after it bowed
down. have heard that the build
ing belonged to Sanborn and Wiley.
It was used for hotel and was occu-
pied as hotel. Mr.. Wiley, one of
The owners OF the building, was pro-
prietor of the hotel"
Fred A. BALM testified: 81 reside
in Detroit, Michigan; l am naval
architect by occupation; have lived
in the building that was blown down
in Crescenta; it is owned by Sanborn
md Wiley; it was occupied as no.
tel it had over twenty rooms in it; L
was not here when the accident oc-
cured; am OF the opinion that the
building is like the rest of
the buildings that are being
built in the various valleys in this
except that this build
ing was especially weak in the trans
verse bracingo the foundation. 1t
would require an unusually strong
wind to have blown this house down."
A CHAT WITH Mr.. MEREDITH.
In conversation, Coroner Meredith
said: "rhe gall. is still blowing down
there Mt terrific rate. AS / went up
The hill to the town it was almost
enough to blow the buggy over. The
people in the vicinity have all aband-
oned their houses as they are fearful
Of further disasters, and are finding
shelter and protection where best they
may. Most of them are staying in
the school house, which is quite sub
building"
Altogether the value Of the property
which has been destroyed in the Cana
da will not fall short of $4,000. The
hotel was well-ftted and furnished,
and almost everything is total wreck,
loss on the preprietors of
about $4,000.
GENERAL DESTRUCTION.
From all over the country reports of